Bible Translation - Jeremiah's Vow

Book Review | The Complete Guide to Bible Translations: How They Were Developed – Understanding Their Differences – Finding the Right One for You

One of the most helpful and concise guides for understanding Bible translation.

The Complete Guide to Bible Translations: How They Were Developed – Understanding Their Differences – Finding the Right One for You by Ron Rhodes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you are looking for a helpful, easy to read introduction to the background of the most popular Bible translations, this is the book for you. I will definitely be referring back to this volume.

The Good
The major issues surrounding Bible translation are covered in this book (translation philosophy, textual basis of each translation covered, gender-neutral language issues). The historyical context that caused each translation to be undertaken is provided. And, several benefits and cautions are provided for each translation.

The Bad
There is not much to complain about in this book. The author offers his own opinions, but they are measured and brief.

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Book Review | Translating Truth: The Case for Essentially Literal Bible Translation

This collection of essays does a good job of making the case for the “essentially literal” Bible translation philosophy.

Translating Truth: The Case for Essentially Literal Bible Translation by Wayne A. Grudem
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Good
This collection of essays does a good job of making the case for the “essentially literal” Bible translation philosophy. I found the arguments compelling. The first three essays are worth the purchase of the book. The strongest case for the “essentially literal” approach are clearly presented.

The Bad
Making the case for a word-for-word philosophy does not need to descend into accusations of malpractice on the part of those that do not follow this approach. Grudem’s essay (the first essay) did this a few times (four or five times). It was unnecessary.

The final two essays were a little more technical and not as helpful. While these two did tease out the practical implementation of an essentially literal approach, it was a little hard to follow.

That being said, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a clear and concise argument FOR the essentially literal translation approach.

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Book Review | “How to Choose a Translation for All Its Worth” by Gordon D. Fee

How to Choose a Translation for All Its Worth: A Guide to Understanding and Using Bible Versions by Gordon D. Fee
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Good:
Provides clear and helpful information about the history of translation and the entire process involved. They explain what they mean when using technical ideas and jargon. And, they offer clear critique of the twenty or so versions they survey.

The Bad:
At every turn, they are clearly “biased” toward a particular kind of bible translation (mainly less “literal” and more meaning based translation approaches). They do not hide this bias (which is nice). And, they provide a clear explanation about what a “literal” translation approach means. So, this is not meant to be a slight against versions that use this approach. It is just not their preferred approach.

I would have given it 4 stars if it had not been so tilted in one particular direction. This is still an invaluable resource to have in your library for the study of bible translations, and I will be referring back to it.

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